Cooling means for package seals



Feb. 18, 1958 M. A. sTlcKx-:LBER

COOLING MEANS FOR PACKAGE SEALS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed April 14, 1955 mamk VC mw 5 A. m M w.

WP. F22@ A from/Ey Feb- 18, 1958 M. A. STICKELBER 2,823,729

COOLING MEANsUFoR PACKAGE SEALs iled April 14, 3955 2 sheets-sheet aMERLIN A. STICKELBE/c? A T TO/PVEV United States Patent O COLING MEANSFOR PACKAGE SEALS lMerlin A. Stickelher, Kansas City, Mo., assignor toStickelber & Sons, Inc., a corporation of Missouri.

Application April 14, 1955, Serial No. 501,403

Claims. (Cl. 154-42) My invention relates to cooling means for packageseals, and more particularly to cooling means for the seals of wrappedpackages, such as wrapped bread, or similar products, that are sealed ina wrapper that is heated for sealing purposes, such as the `ordinary waxpaper used for bread. The present invention is an improvement over thatdisclosed in my application Serial No. 358,463, tiled May 29, 1953, onCooling Means for Package Seals, patented June 14, 1955, Patent No.2,710,641.

As the room temperature in bakeries often exceeds that at which paraflinwax, or similar wax, used for bread wrappers will congeal, it has beenfound necessary to cool the seals of the packages. ln wrapping the breadthe wrapper is folded over on itself in such a way as to enclose theloaf completely in the wrapper and heat is applied to the folded waxpaper wrapper so as to cause the wax coating thereon to be softened andsubstantially liqueed, so that upon cooling it will congeal and securethe folded and overlapped plies of paper of the wrapper together so asto seal the package. ln order to obtain a good seal and to assure thatthe packages will not become unwrapped after supposedly having becomesealed, by Contact with the surrounding atmosphere, which, prior tocooling the Seals, was depended upon for congealing the wax coating onthe paper, it has been found necessary to cool the seals of the packagesmaterially in order that such congealing of the waX will take place. Notonly is such cooling necessary and desirable for wax paper wrappedsealed packages, but also for packages that are sealed in otherwrappers, such as cellophane, which requires heat for bringing thematerial to such a temperature that the layers thereof can be sealedtogether.

In order to accomplish the cooling of the seals, cooling units or plateshave been provided with which the seals of the packages move intosliding contact, and it has been found that due to the fact that the waxof the wrapper has a tendency to adhere to the metal surfaces of thecooling units or plates, it has been found necessary, in order toaccomplish successful cooling of the seals without disarranging thewrappers of the packages and possibly causing the same to become openedby sticking to the cooling plates while being moved relative to thesame, that a coating of frost or ice has t-o be created on the coolingunits or plates so that this sticking will not occur. This necessitatesthe use of direct expansion refrigeration in the cooling plates orunits, which requires considerable equipment, as the temperature of theseal contacting surfaces of said units has t0 be kept considerably belowthe freezing point of water in order to maintain the ice or frost on thesurfaces thereof that engage the seals.

It is the principal purpose of my invention to provide cooling means forpackage seals that does not require the forming of a coating of frost orice on the cooling means, as my improved cooling means is of such acharacter that will not adhere thereto at any temperature, andaccordingly it is unnecessary to maintain a coating of ice or frostthereon. While direct expansion refrigeration can be used for coolingthe cooling units or plates, it is not absolutely necessary inaccordance with the present invention, and where used the directexpansion refrigeration means is so adjusted that it does not cool theseal engaging surface of the cooling unit to such a temperature that iceor frost is formed thereon. While it is desirable to cool the seals to atemperature considerably below the room temperatures that are ordinarilyencountered in bakeries, and particularly in bakeries during the hotsummer months, with my improved cooling means it is unnecessary to useany refrigeration in connection with the cooling of said cooling unitsor plates. The temperature that may be desired to accomplish the purposeof congealing the wax of the seals need only be below the temperature atwhich the wax will congeal. If the cooling units are made of suicientsize that the seals will be in engagement therewith for a considerableperiod of time in their passage through the cooling apparatus, thetemperature of ordinary tap water is sufficient for accomplishing thecongealing of the wax so as to obtain a perfect seal of the packagesbefore leaving the cooling means, but if a shorter period of contactwith the cooling units is desired, these can be made of less length anda temperature of the cooling :iedium maintained that is considerablybelow the tempetature of ordinary tap water, as long as it is above thefreezing point yof water, and either direct expansion refrigeration orbrine can be used as a cooling medium.

More specifically my invention comprises cooling means for seals ofwrapped packages having a wall that the seals thereof engage, that ismade of metal but which has a covering layer or ply on the face thereofwith which the seals engage that is of a synthetic resin that has aninherent greasiness and a negligible adhesive factor with respect towax, The covering material of such synthetic resin can be either appliedthereto in a thin ply or sheet by being cemented or sealed to the metalface to face, or can be provided on the metal wall by means of a coatingthat is sprayed on the face of the metal and baked thereon so as tofirmly adhere thereto. Certain synthetic resins have the characteristicthat, while they are substantially inert and do not transfer any oftheir greasy characteristics to the material coming in Contacttherewith, they have a greasy feel to the surface thereof and areinadhesive to wax and many other materials. The specific materials thathave these characteristics particularly are polytetraiiuoroethylene,polyethylene and tritluorochloroethylene polymer. None of thesematerials are adversely affected by being cooled to the temperaturesthat are desirable in a device for cooling seals of wrapped packages andcan be subjected to the temperatures now utilized in devices of thischaracter that utilize direct expansion refrigeration without anyharmful effects upon the materials. Also all of these materials aresubstantially inert within the ternperature range to which the samewould be subjected in use in such a cooling apparatus and are suicientlygood conductors Vof heat to be used for the purpose of cooling packageseals when applied in a relatively thin layer to a metallic heatconducting wall.

"My invention is appli-cable not only to a continuous flat faced wallthat has a flat face that is provided with the coating or covering plywith which the seals of the es packages slidably engage, but is alsoapplicable to a cooling element that is made up of tubular members thatare rectangular in cross section and that collectively form a wall, thecorresponding side faces of the tubular members forming said wallforming the face of the unit that is contacted by the package seals andbeing provided in the present invention with a covering or coating ofthe synthetic resin of the above referred to character to prevent theadherence of the wrappers thereto.

Other objects and advantages of my invention will appear as thedescription of the drawings proceeds. l desire to have it understood,however, that l do not intend to limit myself to the particular detailsshown or described, except as defined in the claims.

In the drawings:

Fig. l is a fragmentary top plan View of a sealing apparatus, partlybroken away, to which my improved cooling means for seals is applied.

Fig. 2 is a vertical longitudinal sectional view thereof partly brokenaway.

Fig. 3 is a section on an enlarged scale, taken on the line 3 3 of Fig.1.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary section corresponding to Fig. 3 but on a stilllarger scale.

Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 3 of a modification, and

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary sectional View similar to Fig. 4, of the form ofthe invention shown in Fig. 5.

Referring in detail to the drawings, my improved cooling means is shownas comprising a pair of cooling units 10 that engage the end seals ofwrapped packages, such as loaves of wrapped bread, and a cooling unit 11that engages the bottom seals of said packages. The units 10 are mountedfor adjustment toward and away from each other so that the coolingapparatus can be adjusted for acting on the end seals of packages, suchas Wrapped loaves of bread, of various lengths. Such adjustable mountingmay be of any desired character, but preferably consists of pairs ofbrackets 12 and 13 that are mounted on transversely extending shafts 14and 15, which shafts are provided with screw-threaded portions 16 thatare of opposite pitch, as is common in devices of this character, sothat rotation of the shafts 14 and in one direction will move thebrackets 12 and the brackets 13 toward each other while rotation of saidshafts in the opposite direction will move said brackets 12 and 13 awayfrom each other. Said shafts 14 and 15 are each mounted for rotation ina pair of brackets on a pair of longitudinally extending frame bars 17,means being provided to hold the shafts against endwise movement in saidbrackets.

Said bars 17 are mounted in any suitable manner on a suitable supportand may be mounted on the frame (not shown) of a wrapping machine and ofthe convey ing apparatus usually associated with such a machine, ifdesired. Mounted on said bars 17 are the brackets 18, which support thetable or plate-like member 19 over which the upper run of the conveyorbelt 20 extends, said conveyor belt being mounted on a pair of rollers21, which are mounted in any suitable manner on the cooling apparatus,as on the brackets 17 mounted on the members 17, and are driven in anysuitable manner so as to move the upper run of the belt 20 in thedirection indicated by the arrow in Fig. 2, the particular mounting anddrive of said conveying means not being part of this invention, it beingonly of importance that means be provided for moving the wrappedpackages, the seals of which are to be cooled, along the cooling units10 in sliding engagement therewith.

The brackets 12 and 13 are connected together by means, of a pair oflongitudinally extending bars 22 and thecooling units Il@ are mounted onsaid bars 22. The shaft 14 is provided with a hand wheel 23 that has ahandle 24 thereon for rotating said shaft and the rotation of said shaftsimultaneously rotates the shaft 15 through the sprockets 25 and 26keyed on said shafts 14 4 and 15 and the sprocket chain 27 so that bothpairs of brackets 12 and 13 are adjusted toward or away from each othersimultaneously and equally.

ireferably, the conveying means in the form of a belt is also providedfor engagement with the upper sides et the wrapped packages, beingmounted on rollers 29 that are mounted for rotation in any suitablemanner on the longitudinal frame members 3), and one of said rollers 29is driven in any suitable manner. Preferably the driven rollers 2l and29 for the conveyor belts 2t) and 28 are driven in any suitable mannerfrom some rotating part of the wrapping machine with which the coolingdevice is associated. The conveyor belt 28 is adjustable by adjustmentof the frame members 30 relative to a pair of longitudinally extendingbars 31 that are mounted in any suitable manner, as on the frame of thewrapping machine and the frame of a conveyor usually provided forconveying the wrapped packages away from the cooling means.

Mounted on said longitudinally extending members 31 are a pair oftransversely extending brackets 32 that have screw-threadedly engagedtherewith the adjusting screws 33, said adjusting screws having meansthereon for adjusting the same equally simultaneously, comprising a pairof sprockets 34 and the sprocket chain 35 operating over said sprockets.The lower ends of said adjusting screws are provided with heads thereonthat engage the under sides of brackets 36 and are rotatably mounted inopenings in said brackets, said brackets 36 supporting thelongitudinally extending members 30. Thus the entire upper conveyingmeans comprising the belt 2S, the rollers 29 and the longitudinallyextending members 30, are adjustable vertically by means of saidadjusting screws 33.

A fragmentary portion of the wrapping machine is shown in Figs. 1 and 2,showing the heating devices for the wrappers of the packages, thesebeing shown somewhat diagrammatically in said figures as comprising theheating units 39 for the end seals of the packages and the heating unit40 for the bottom seals. Any suitable means for conveying the wrappedloaves of bread into engagement with the heating means may be provided.Suitable flexible guide members 41 are provided between the heatingunits 39 and the cooling units 10. No means is provided for conveyingthe wrapped packages into engagement with the cooling unit 11 other thanthe conveying means 20 and 2S, as this is unnecessary, the packages thatare being moved along by the conveying means 20 and 28 in the directionof the arrow indicated in Figs. 1 and 2 pushing the packages ahead ofthem across the bottom sealing unit 11.

The sealing units 10 illustrated more in detail in Figs. 3 and 4 haveflat faced walls 42 of metal and rear walls 43 and top and bottom walls44 and 45 that are provided with flanges 46 for securing the flat frontplate 42 thereto by means of securing elements 47. It is, of course, tobe understood that the end walls of the cooling units 10 are similarlyflanged and similarly secured to the front plate 42, suitablecompressible gasket means 48 being provided between the flanges 46 andthe plate-like member 42. The rear wall 43 is preferably provided with athickened portion 49 receiving screws 50 by means of which the coolingunit is secured to the bar 22.

ln the form of the invention shown in Figs. 3 and 4 the cooling Coil 51is mounted within the housing formed by means of the metallic wallsabove described, exible conduits 52 and 53 extending from the oppositeends of the cooling coil 51 to circulate cooling medium, such as brine,or an expandable cooling medium, through said cooling element 51. Thehousing is filled preferably with a jellylike viscous heat transfermedium 54, which remains in a mobile state at the temperatures to whichit is subjected, or with a suitable anti-freeze solution serving as heattransfer means between the wall 42 and the cooling coil 51 andmaintaining a close contact with the wall 42 to cool it uniformly overits entire surface.

The outer face of the wall 42 is provided with a synthetic resincovering material 55. Said covering material may be applied to the outerface of the metallic wall 42 by spraying and baking a coating of thesynthetic resin material on said outer face of the metallic wall 42, ora thin sheet or ply of the synthetic resin material 55 may be bonded orcemented to the outer face of the wall 42 by means of cement suitablefor bonding the synthetic resin material to the metal wall. Thesynthetic resin materials that are suitable for use for the coveringmaterial 5S on the outer face of the metallic wall 42 arepolytetrauoroethylene, polyethylene and triuorochloroethylene polymer,having the formula (CF2CFCl) each of which has the property that waxwill not stick or adhere thereto.

The cooling element 11 is made in the same manner as the coolingelements having the cooling coil 51 provided therein with the lengthsthereof running transversely of the machine, or lengthwise of thecooling element 11, corresponding parts of the cooling element 11 and ofthe cooling element 10 shown in Figs. 3 and 4 having the same referencenumerals applied thereto. The top wall 42 of the cooling element 11corresponds to the wall 42 of the cooling elements 10 and is providedwith a coating or covering ply of the synthetic resin material 55 in asimilar manner as are the cooling elements 10.

Instead of making the cooling elements 10 and 11 with cooling coilsseparate from the package seal engaging wall, the cooling elements canbe made as shown in the patent to Stoneman, Jr., 2,053,540, September 8,1936, for Heat Exchange Unit for Wrapping Machines. In this form of theinvention the rectangular conduits 56 are secured together in therelationship shown in Fig. 5 so that the rectangular tubular members 56collectively form a wall that has passages 57 therein for the coolingmedium, the wall portions 58 of said conduits 56 being in alignment witheach other and collectively forming a flat seal engaging wall for thecooling unit. The cooling units 10 and 11 can each be made in thismanner and are provided with heat insulating material 59 on the rearside thereof enclosed within a suitable housing, portions 60 only ofwhich are shown in Fig. 5 of the drawings. The seal engaging metallicwall portions 58 are provided with a covering 55 of the synthetic resinin the'sarne manner as above described, the same synthetic resins beingsuitable for this covering or coating ply SS. While the covering orcoating ply 55 is shown as being continuous over the wall made up of thewall portions S8, and this is preferred, the rectangular tubing sections56 can have the coating or covering ply 55 applied to the wall portion58 thereof individually, should this be found desirable, the importantthing being that all of the surfaces of the cooling units that are in aposition to be contacted by the packages that are to be sealed arecovered by one of the synthetic resin materials above set forth.

What I claim is:

l. Cooling means for seals of wrapped packages comprising a metallicwall having a wax repellent synthetic resin surface covering on theouter face thereof, said surface covering being thin relative to thethickness of said wall, means for moving seals of wrapped packages intosliding engagement with said surface covering, and means for coolingsaid Wall.

2. Cooling means for seals of wrapped packages comprising a metallicwall having a polytetrauoroethylene surface covering on the outer facethereof, said surface covering being thin relative to the thickness ofsaid Wall, means for moving seals of wrapped packages into slidingengagement with said surface covering, and means for cooling said wall.

3. Cooling means for seals of wrapped packages comprising a metallicwall having a polyethylene surface covering on the outer face thereof,means for moving seals of wrapped packages into sliding engagement withsaid surface covering, and means for cooling said wall.

' 6 4. Cooling'means for seals of wrapped packages cornprsing a metallicwall having a trifluorochloroethylene polymer surface covering on theouter face thereof, means for moving seals of Wrapped packages intosliding engagement with said surface covering, and means for coolingsaid wall.

5. Cooling means for seals of wrapped packages comprising `a metallicwall having a wax repellent synthetic resin surface covering ply securedon the outer face thereof, said covering ply being thin relative to thethickness of said wall, means for moving seals of wrapped packages intosliding engagement With said surface ply, and means for cooling saidWall.

6. Cooling means for seals of wrapped packages comprising a metallicwall having a polytetrafluoroethylene ply secured to the outer facethereof, said polytetrauoroethylene ply being thin relative to thethickness of said wall, means for moving seals of wrapped packages intosliding engagement with said polytetraiiuoroethylene ply, and means forcooling said wall.

7. Cooling means for seals of Wrapped packages comprising a metallicwall having a polyethylene ply secured to the outer face thereof, meansfor moving seals of wrapped packages into sliding engagement with saidpolyethylene ply, and means for cooling said Wall.

8. Cooling means for seals of Wrapped packages comprising a metallicwall having a trifluorochloroethylene polymer ply secured to the outerface thereof, means for moving seals of Wrapped packages into slidingengagement with said triuorochloroethylene polymer ply, and means forcooling said Wall.

9. Cooling means for seals of wrapped packages comprising a metallicwall having a polytetraiiuoroethylene coating over the outer facethereof, means for moving seals of wrapped packages into slidingengagement with said coated face, and means for cooling said wall.

l0. Cooling means for seals of Wrapped packages comprising a metallicwall having a polyethylene coating over the outer face thereof, meansfor moving seals of wrapped packages into sliding engagement with saidcoated face, and means for cooling said wall.

11. Cooling means for seals of wrapped packages comprising a metallicWall having a trifluorochlorethylene polymer coating over the outer facethereof, means for moving seals of Wrapped packages into slidingengagement With said coated face, and means for cooling said wall.

l2. Cooling means for seals of wrapped packages comprising a pluralityof rectangular metallic conduits collectively forming a wall, said wallhaving a iiat face having a wax repellent synthetic resin surfacecovering thereon, said surface covering being thin relative to thethickness of the walls of said conduits, means for moving seals ofwrapped packages into sliding engagement with said surface covering, andmeans for circulating a cooling medium through said conduits.

i3. Cooling means for seais of wrapped packages comprising a pluralityof rectangular metallic conduits collectively forming a wall, said wallhaving a flat face having a polytetrafluoroethylene surface coveringLthereon, said surface covering being thin relative to the thickness ofthe walls of said conduits, means for moving seals of wrapped packagesinto sliding engagement with said surface covering, and means forcirculating a` cooling medium through said conduits.

14. Cooling means for seals of wrapped packages comprising a pluralityof rectangular metallic conduits collectively forming a wall, said wallhaving a flat face having a polyethylene surface covering thereon, meansfor moving seals of wrapped packages into sliding engagement with saidsurface covering, and means for circulating a cooling medium throughsaid conduits.

15. Cooling means for seals of wrapped packages comprising a pluralityof rectangular metallic conduits collectively forming a wall, said wallhaving a flat face hay- References Cited in the le of this patent UNITEDSTATES PATENTS sticelber sept. 7, 1937 Spalding June l2, 1951 "8McGinley et al Aug. 14, 1951 Rubin May 12, 1953 Langer Apr. 13, 1954Bergstein May 18, 1954 McGinley Dec. 21, 1954 Miner et al. Dec. 28, 1954Stickelber June 14, 1955 FOREIGN PATENTS Great Britain Nov. 7, 1951

